Stipe Miocic on Facing Jon Jones Over Aspinall: ‘It Wasn’t My Choice” for UFC 309
Nearly three years removed from his last appearance inside the Octagon, Stipe Miocic returns on Saturday, November 16 for a high-stakes heavyweight showdown with undisputed titleholder Jon Jones.
The last time fight fans saw the consensus heavyweight GOAT compete, he suffered a nasty second-round knockout loss against Francis Ngannou. Now, the Cleveland native is back and ready to retake the heavyweight crown when he meets ‘Bones’ in the UFC 309 headliner in Madison Square Garden.
Much scrutiny has surrounded Miocic’s upcoming clash against Jones, much of it surrounding interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall who has been left by the wayside while the UFC continues to push Jones vs. Miocic.
After ‘Bones’ bowed out of his originally scheduled scrap with the two-time titleholder last November, an interim title was introduced at UFC 295 between Aspinall and Russian knockout artist Sergei Pavlovich. Aspinall won the bout via a 69-second KO and has since defended the interim belt against Curtis Blaydes while waiting for ‘Bones’ to recover and settle his business with Miocic before a potential unification clash.
However, Miocic himself was the subject of some criticism after he chose to stand aside and let Aspinall fight Pavlovich instead of accepting the Brit as a replacement opponent for his scrapped scrap with Jones. Miocic has also been healthy this entire year, meaning he could have stepped up and fought Aspinall for the interim title instead.
Responding to some of that criticism during an interview with MMA Fighting, Miocic passed the buck to the UFC.
”It wasn’t my choice. It’s a fight I wanted, and the UFC gave it to me. They didn’t have to. They gave it to me” (h/t Sportskeeda).
Miocic did acknowledge that Aspinall is who the people want to see right now.
”[Tom Aspinall is] tough,” Miocic added. “He hits hard. Big boy. It’s what people want, he knocks people out.”
Stipe Miocic is confident in his game plan for jon jones
Regardless of the backlash, Stipe Miocic is looking forward to his return to MSG and is confident that he and his team have devised a game plan that will make him the UFC’s first-ever three-time heavyweight champion.
”We always come with a great game plan. They improvise and make everything right. As long as I go to the game plan, listen [to my coaches], we’ll be good… I think he’s [Jones] just good at what he does. He’s an artist! He knows how to mix it up. He knows how to keep a guy guessing him, you know? That’s why he’s done so well.”
Overall, Stipe Miocic is 20-4 in his mixed martial arts career with 14 of those wins coming by way of knockout. Miocic has held the heavyweight title on two separate occasions and defended it four times — more than any other heavyweight titleholder in UFC history.
